Monday, September 22, 2014

It was a remarkable phenomenon. Watching the
news the other evening I saw a report about people - hundreds and hundreds of
people in many cities - camped outside a store for as much as twenty-four hours
in order to acquire a brand new version of a smartphone. Now, I like technology
as much as the next guy, and I confess to being a little tempted to see what
this new phone can do, but really! All that time wasted in a mall, all that
energy spent in excited anticipation, for a phone! Moreover, for a phone that
we know will soon be set aside in favour of the next upgrade to come along.

The perspective is distorted. This applies to
all of us anytime we set our sights on what is passing, when we seek to fulfill
our desires with what cannot for long satisfy. It need not be a smartphone;
anytime our attention and energy are focused on things like money, possessions,
prestige, reputation, the right location and so on, our outlook on what really
matters has become terribly skewed.

The Scripture readings proclaimed Sunday serve
to refocus our vision, purify our desires, and get our priorities back in
correct order (cf. Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1: 20-24, 27; Matthew
20:1-16). Isaiah cries out: "Seek the Lord!!" Seek not some worldly
satisfaction that will leave us wanting. Seek, instead, to live in right
relationship with God. St. Paul makes this very concrete by speaking of the
desires of his own heart. His longing is to be with Christ. As long as the Lord
has a purpose for him in this world, he will be content to live in the world
and fulfill God's will. But his desire is to be with Christ forever. That's it!
To be with Christ forever! For this we have been created; only in this,
therefore, will our deepest desire find fulfillment.

How do we pursue the desire? Certainly not by
camping out in a shopping mall. To be with Christ forever, living in him in the
unity of the Trinity for all eternity, is what we mean by salvation. What Jesus
makes clear in his parable of the vineyard labourers is that salvation is God's
gift, pure and simple, offered to us out of the infinite depths of his generosity. It matters not if we come to
faith only "late in the day". When one is awakened to the joy of a
life of faith is all part of the mystery of God's grace interacting with human
freedom. What matters is that God holds out his gift to all equally. There is
absolutely nothing we can do to earn it.

What is required is that our lives be open to
the working of God's grace within us, so that he can bring about in us the
accomplishment of his saving will.

The one thing necessary is to live in union with
Christ. May this truth so possess us that our hearts will always be set upon
what truly matters, and open to receive his saving grace.

This picture shows one of the panels on the holy door at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. I have always loved it, and it speaks beautifully of the Good Shepherd reaching out to save the lost. That's the reason for hope.

About Me

Richard W. Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 28, 1959, and ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1987. He was appointed Bishop of Pembroke on April 27, 2002. On March 22, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the Metropolitan See of Edmonton. In 2009 he was elected vice-president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.